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I was first introduced to Nick Cutter back in 2014 with his novel The Troop, which, not only scared, but disgusted the hell out of me. You need to read it. I do have the following novel, The Deep, but haven’t had a chance to dive into it yet!

The blurb:

From electrifying horror author Nick Cutter comes a haunting new novel, reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and Stephen King’s It, in which a trio of mismatched mercenaries is hired by a young woman for a deceptively simple task: check in on her nephew, who may have been taken against his will to a remote New Mexico backwoods settlement called Little Heaven. Shortly after they arrive, things begin to turn ominous. Stirrings in the woods and over the treetops—the brooding shape of a monolith known as the Black Rock casts its terrible pall. Paranoia and distrust grips the settlement. The escape routes are gradually cut off as events spiral towards madness. Hell—or the closest thing to it—invades Little Heaven. The remaining occupants are forced to take a stand and fight back, but whatever has cast its dark eye on Little Heaven is now marshaling its powers…and it wants them all.

Fifteen years ago, in order to win a contract in the Kingdom, a desperate defense contractor used a shell company to provide a bribe to a wealthy Saudi businessman. Now a powerful player in the defense industry, he panics when the Panama Papers burst onto the public scene. Providing insight into the illicit deeds of offshore financing, they could prove his undoing.

To prevent the exposure of his illegal activities, he sets in motion a plan to interdict the next leak, but he is not the only one worried about spilled secrets. The data theft has left the Taskforce potentially vulnerable, leaving a trail that could compromise the unit. Back in the good graces of the new president, Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill are ordered to interdict the next leak as well, in order to control the damage.

Unbeknownst to either group, the Saudi has been using the shell company to fund terrorists all over the world, and he has a spectacular attack planned, coinciding with the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11. The information Pike and Jennifer uncover will put them on the trail of the imminent threat, but it’s one that they might be unable to stop.

Called Ring of Fire, it will cause unimaginable destruction across the United States, and the ensuing chaos and terror will distract the Taskforce from a truth no one sees: Ring of Fire was only the beginning, and the danger is far from over.

Full of twists and turns, Everything You Want Me to Be reconstructs a year in the life of a dangerously mesmerizing young woman, during which a small town’s darkest secrets come to the forefront…and she inches closer and closer to her death.

High school senior Hattie Hoffman has spent her whole life playing many parts: the good student, the good daughter, the good citizen. When she’s found brutally stabbed to death on the opening night of her high school play, the tragedy rips through the fabric of her small town community. Local sheriff Del Goodman, a family friend of the Hoffmans, vows to find her killer, but trying to solve her murder yields more questions than answers. It seems that Hattie’s acting talents ran far beyond the stage. Told from three points of view—Del, Hattie, and the new English teacher whose marriage is crumbling—Everything You Want Me to Be weaves the story of Hattie’s last school year and the events that drew her ever closer to her death.

Evocative and razor-sharp, Everything You Want Me to Be challenges you to test the lines between innocence and culpability, identity and deception. Does love lead to self-discovery—or destruction?

I had such a hard time putting this book down because I just wanted … needed to know what happened. I came pretty close in figuring it out, but the conclusion still flipped me through a loop. Another reason I really loved this one, it takes place in Minnesota!!

Order to Kill is the next installment of Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series.

The blurb:

In the next thrilling novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series, the anti-terrorism operative heads to Pakistan to confront a mortal threat he may not be prepared for. In fact, this time he might have met his match.

Mitch Rapp is used to winning.

But in this follow-up to #1 New York Times bestselling The Survivor, the CIA operative finds himself chasing false leads from continent to continent in an effort to keep Pakistani nukes from falling into the hands of terrorists. Together with friend and colleague Scott Coleman, Rapp struggles to prevent the loss of these lethal weapons, particularly because Russia is also interested in the nukes, though not for the same reason as Rapp and Coleman.

Soon, it becomes alarmingly clear that the forces in Moscow are bent on fomenting even more chaos and turmoil in the Middle East, and Rapp must go deep into Russian territory, posing as an American ISIS recruit. There, he uncovers a plan much more dangerous and insidious than he ever expected, one that could have far-reaching and catastrophic consequences.

Written with breathless tension and heart-pounding action, Mitch Rapp’s latest adventure is as timely and provocative as ever.

Kyle Mills has done it again, and continues Vince’s legacy with another astounding Mitch Rapp novel. We (the fans) have truly been blessed with Mills, as he was the author that was selected to continue the series. He nailed Vince’s voice in The Survivor, and with Order to Kill, he has taken the series into his own hands and has made it his own, all the while staying true to Vince’s legacy.

I absolutely adore this series! I am pretty sure I’ve told you these things multiple times. It’s always a good day when the newest MSW is out.

The blurb:

Jessica enters a fly-fishing competition at a nearby lake. Joining her is the sheriff’s wife, Maureen Metzger, who surprises Jess with her enthusiasm for the sport. Their guide, however, is a surprise to both…

Brian Kinney is an ex-con. Jailed as an accomplice to Darryl Jepson, a convicted killer, Brian was later exonerated, but not before spending seven years behind bars. He seems like a decent enough fellow. Just a man trying to rebuild his life as a family man and fishing guide.

Yet when Jepson breaks out of prison vowing revenge, and the lawyer for both men is found murdered, Cabot Cove becomes the focus of the nation as local, state, and federal authorities descend on Jessica’s hometown. And to add to the tension, Maureen has gone missing. Is she lost or is she a hostage? Jess soon finds herself caught in a netful of lies, deceit and ulterior motives. In order to save her friend, she’ll need to find some answers by hook or by crook…

I’ve already started this one and am a couple chapters in. This afternoon, I started a Brad Thor thriller because I had a bit of free time on my hands at work. Even knowing this bad boy would be waiting for me at home, I needed a little Scot Harvath fix. The MSW book will only take a few days (if that) to read.

I’ve been putting off blogging about this, because I somehow thought that if I didn’t post it, it would be true. But unfortunately, it is.

I’m not one to get too emotional when a celebrity passes away, but this one really hurt my heart. I believe that Gene is most famously known for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It is by far my favorite Wilder film. And my favorite part? When he sings Pure Imagination. It is just perfection. My other top Wilder flicks are of course Young Frankenstein, Haunted Honeymoon, and Blazing Saddles.

Alas, the world goes on, as it always does. But Gene Wilder will live on through his movies for many generations to come. And Willy Wonka will always put a smile on my face 🙂

To start, I just want to say, that Jess is one of my favorite authors (in my top three, top two actually, ok ok, she’s my second favorite author) and I’ve been waiting for her new book for months!

The blurb:

Salem Wiley is a genius cryptanalyst, courted by the world’s top security agencies ever since making a breakthrough discovery in her field of quantum computing. She’s also an agoraphobe, shackled to a narrow routine by her fear of public places. When her mother’s disappearance is linked to a plot to assassinate the country’s first viable female presidential candidate, Salem finds herself both target and detective in a modern-day witch hunt. Drawn into a labyrinth of messages encrypted by Emily Dickinson and centuries-old codes tucked inside the Beale Cipher, Salem begins to uncover the truth: an ancient and ruthless group is hell-bent on ruling the world, and only a select group of women stands in its way.

Happy Book Release Day to M. Verano’s “Possession” (Diary of a Haunting)!!!!

pic from Amazon.com

After reading “Diary of a Haunting” last year, I as very excited to learn about this second book in the series. I very much enjoyed the style of the book as it isn’t in typical novel form (written as diary entries).

The blurb:

In the tradition of Paranormal Activity and The Exorcist, an ordinary girl with a strange illness that doctors can’t seem to diagnose recounts her experience with the dark and ancient entity that’s making her sick in this chilling diary that features photos and images of what she experienced.

All her life, Laetitia Jones has only wanted to be a star. It’s more than an ambition—somewhere deep inside, she knows that she was born for greatness.

But her path to stardom now seems to be halted by a mysterious, undiagnosed illness that’s taken over her body. Doctors don’t have a clue and most days, she’s stuck at home documenting her strange symptoms—symptoms that start with fevers and chills, but soon escalate to bizarre bodily reactions.

Laetitia’s only escape from her illness is following the news—and the race riots that are moving closer and closer to her neighborhood. But when horrific visions begin to invade her mind, even the media can’t distract her and she begins to wonder—is her illness something biological…or is it something more? Are the voices she hears and the notes she finds in her own handwriting signs of insanity…or signs of something much more sinister and demonic? Or, perhaps, signs of something benevolent…something holy even.

Laetitia has always known she’d be famous…she just didn’t know it would happen this way.

I absolutely love the “Beautiful Disaster/Maddox Brothers” series by Jamie McGuire. And I love those Maddoxes! But, I must admit, the title of this book scares the crap out of me. Not enough to keep me from reading it though. I have purposely not read any of the reviews, so I am not entirely sure on what to expect, except that it will be a good read.

The blurb:

Eleven years to the day after eloping in Vegas with Abby, Special Agent Travis Maddox delivers his own brand of vigilante justice to mob boss Benny Carlisi. Vegas’s oldest and most violent crime family is now preparing for vengeance, and the entire Maddox family is a target.

The secret Thomas and Travis have kept for a decade will be revealed to the rest of the family, and for the first time the Maddoxes will be at odds. While none of them are strangers to loss, the family has grown, and the risk is higher than ever. With brothers against brothers and wives taking sides, each member will make a choice—let the fear tear them apart, or make them stronger.

I’ve haven’t read many of Colleen’s books (I have them, just haven’t worked my way through my huge and ever growing to be read pile) but the 2 that I’ve read (“Ugly Love” and “November 9”) I have absolutely adored! And I am very excited to read this one, especially since reading many reviews saying this is her best book yet.

The blurb:

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.